Terrene
by starsoftwilight
Summary: AU For centuries, ghosts have led fairly ordinary, even somewhat peaceful afterlives. Well, as ordinary it could get in the swirling depth of the Ghost Zone. No one would’ve guessed a young white haired hybrid would change things so drastically…
1. PreChapter: Birth

**_Universal Disclaimer : Danny Phantom and other characters are owned by Mr. Hartman._**

**Huge thanks to Nonasuki-chan and ES9 for beta-ing it for me!**

**_Summary : _**

_Alternat Universe For centuries, ghosts have led fairly ordinary, even somewhat peaceful afterlives. Well, as ordinary it could get in the swirling depth of the Ghost Zone. No one would've guessed a young white-haired hybrid would change things so drastically… _

* * *

_**Terrene**_

.:PreChapter:.

_Birth_

_**

* * *

**_

_**Danny :** Besides, I always wanted to go in here. Who knows what kind of awesome, super cool things exist on the other side of that portal?_

_

* * *

_

"Say 'Ghosty,' everyone!"

_FLASH!_

"Ha! Our very first Fenton-Family-Jumpsuit photo!" Jack gleefully cried, his eyes welling up in tears as he proudly stared at the picture he'd just taken. "I never thought I'd live to see this moment!" Excited, the self-proclaimed greatest ghost hunter busied himself in propelling the photo like a fan and flashed a wide grin at the little toddler cradled in his burly arm.

"Now, don't you just look adorable with that jumpsuit on, Danny boy?" he said boy -clad in white jumpsuit topped with black gloves, boots and belt- giggled as the excited man patted the thin mop of black hair he'd obviously inherited from Jack himself.

"I still say we should've kept that Jack Fenton face sticker on his jumpsuit though," he said with a pout.

"Now, now Jack," Maddie said in a coaxing tone in hopes of not offending her husband, "I know you spent a lot of time making those for Danny and Jazz, but don't you think it'd have been a little weird if there were humungous faces of yourself slapped onto their jumpsuits?" She hoisted up a turquoise-eyed girl in a pink jumpsuit and gestured at her chest to indicate what she meant.

"Mo-ommy! I'm a big girl! I can stand for myself!" The four-year-old furiously protested, wriggling in her mother's grasp. Maddie let go with a chuckle.

"And make sure you don't drop that Fenton Flash again!" She called out to the over-energetic man, whose attention was now diverted to his son again, waving the camera at his tiny face with a playful '_peek-a-boo_!'

"Remember, that's already the second camera we had to build this month, honey. And it's only the third day of March!"

_It almost feels like I have three children to take care of... _Amused, Maddie shook her head at her husband's childish mannerisms that reminded her of their own little children. Speaking of whom-.

"_Jackie, honey-.__♪ __Maddie, honey-._" The blue-eyed toddler who'd barely managed to cease giggling repeated in a singsong voice, mimicking his mother's sweet tone. Not exactly the most talented singer in the world, sure, but it wasn't hard to tell he was singing along the tunes flowing from scarlet music box with a green lid clutched in his gloved fingers.

"Cut it wit the Chwistmas song, Danny!" A red-haired four-year-old snapped. "It's March! Way too late for 'Silent Night!'"

"_-Jaaaaazzy, honey! __♪♪__ Danny honey…_" The youngest Fenton paid no heed to his sister's reprimands, his high-pitched voice increasing its volume. He frowned and cocked his head to the side when the music box still continued its melody even after his little song ended.

"Aw, c'mon Jazzerincess! Don't be jealous 'cause your baby brother can sing!" Jack joked as he patted his eldest child's back with a wink, clueless to the fact that Jasmine actually _was_ tone-deaf.

"But he sings that Name-My-Family song everyday! Ever since he got that music box fwom Santa Clause!" Jazz pouted as she glared at her little brother who brought his toy between his teeth to bite it, only to draw it out immediately with a sour look on his face. The girl rolled her eyes before tugging uncomfortably at the pink-and-black spandex jumpsuit her mother had insisted on wearing for the day.

"And mooooommy, can I take it off now? Why do me and Danny have to wear dis un-com-fo-table thing?"

"Because today's a very special day, sweetie!" Maddie happily grinned, "The day we finished the project of our dreams we spent years on!"

"Pwoject?" Danny chirped, his head snapping upwards to meet his mother's excited eyes.

"Yep!" Jack answered, his huge form rocking back and forth in enthusiasm. "It's a special door that leads to the world of ghosts! We'll be able to catch a ghost in no time and tear it apart molecule by molecule!"

"Where's it?" Jazz piped, her head cocked to the side.

"Over there, in our basement," Maddie pointed at the locked door next to the staircase, two pairs of wide eyes following her index finger.

"But," the turquoise-eyed girl made a face, "you said ghosts are mean! What if they come and get me, Mommy!"

"Ghosties only gets meanies. Like yous, Jazzy." The two-year-old offered in a matter-of-fact tone. He giggled when his sister shot him a dirty look.

"Now, kids. Let's not fight. Who's up for a game of-"

"I know!" Danny interrupted his mother, holding out his Silent Night music box. "_Ghosty-. Honey-. __♪ __Meanie-. Honey-._"

"Cut it out!" Jazz warned. "And nothing about ghosts and meanies are honey!"

"Well, at least he came up with different words for his little song, Jazz…" Amused, Maddie chuckled as she tickled her son on his belly. The toddler gasped and burst out laughing, kicking his feet and tossing his arms around wildly in Maddie's grasp. Jazz smiled like a little devil before slowly advancing on his brother with her fingers dancing, ready to join her mother.

A loud grumble chose that moment to erupt, causing the three pairs of bewildered eyes to glance at the source of the noise.

Jack sheepishly grinned at his family. "Um, Maddie? Is it okay if we test our Fenton Portal, like, after dinner?"

* * *

"'_Can you hit the tiny dot over there with your arrow, Artemis?' Apollo says to his sister. He points at a black figure on the horizon of the sea._

'_Of course I can,' Artemis replies. She readies her bow and shoots. It does not miss. Suddenly, a man's scream echoes throughout the ocean. Artemis's eyes grow bigger in horror. _

'_Oh, no! I must have shot a person!' She cries. Soon, the tides flow towards the shore, carrying a man's body._

'_Orion!' The goddess cries when she sees her loved one's limp form. 'I killed Orion! Orion!' She weeps and weeps, and-_"

"Shh, Jazzy!" The black-haired toddler hushed his sister, placing his tiny finger on her sister's lips. "Hear dat? Listen!"

"What?" An eyebrow quirked, Jazz lowered her "Greek Mythology for Children" book irritably. Danny had never dared to interrupt her while she read him before. When he wasn't distracted with the Silent Night music box, at any rate -but the blasted toy was secure in his pocket, the switch pointing to "OFF."

"Mommy and Daddy talking! See?" The little kids jumped off from Jazz's pink bed and silently tiptoed towards the door. They slightly opened it, letting the voices from downstairs flow in more freely.

"_But we checked THREE times, Jack! I know the calculations were 100 correct!"_

"_I don't know either, Mads. I don't know either."_

"_How can it not work? After all these years we spent, after all that work we poured into it-."_

"_I thought so, too. After all these years we've been treated like crackbrains, after all these years of guilt that followed Vlad's accident…"_

"Who's Vwad?" Danny whispered.

"I dunno. Mommy and Daddy's pwoject must not have worked or someffing." Jazz whispered back.

"Aww, no ghosty door then?" The blue-eyed toddler said with a pout that strongly resembled his dad's.

"Uh-huh," the four-year-old replied with a frown, but it soon melted into a mischievous smirk, her inquisitive nature-kicking in. "You thinkin' what I'm thinkin', Danny?"

The younger boy cocked his head in confusion. "What ffinkin..?"

Then his eyes widened when her implication sank in a moment later. "B-but Jazzy, mommy and daddy says-!"

"Pff, you never listens to them anyway. C'mon!"

"But-!" was all Danny could get out before he was seized by the wrist and hauled downstairs.

* * *

"Wow…" The two kids whispered in awe as they cautiously looked around their dimly lit surroundings, their voice echoing throughout the dark basement. The sound of their tiny feet tapping at the floor reverberated, its volume magnified to a point where it intimidated the siblings. The orange-haired girl stood on her toes to tentatively turn the lights on. 

Unlike the rest of the Fenton Works, the laboratory looked far from inviting and cozy, its burnished metal walls and faded blue examination tables glinting in unfamiliarity. Numbers of oddly-shaped beakers and cylinders filled with glowing substance rested on the tables, along with papers covered in notes they couldn't comprehend.

Jazz anxiously observed her surroundings, her eyes darting back and forth between the door they just came through and the newly revealed lab in front of her.

"Hey, what's that?" Unaware of his sister's unease, the blue-eyed boy cheerfully toddled towards a black board hanging on the opposite wall. He halted in front of it, his tiny head titled upwards as he curiously stared up at the sketch of a green specter scrawled on it.

"Jazzy, it's a gween ghostie!" He burst in a fit of giggles. "Red, blue, orange, gween!"

Jazz slowly followed her brother, warily keeping a watch on her back. "Careful, Danny…"

"Oooh, lookie!" Danny cried, his smile brightening as something resting on a table across the lab caught his eyes. "Mommy's coffee!" He dashed by his big sister and climbed up a stool standing in front of the metal table.

"Danny, wait!"

"See? It's a coffee!" He happily announced, his arm stretched out to the table as he reached for the clear beaker that contained an unknown auburn substance. Unfortunately, his clumsy hands knocked over the beaker and spilled the exotic content all over the polished examination table. The young boy yelped and stepped backward in surprise, falling off from the stool and landing on his butt.

"DANNY!" Jazz hissed as she rushed up to her teary-eyed brother, "you okay?"

He nodded, and the four-year-old let out a sigh of relief before scowling at him, a hand on her hips. "Look at teh mess you made, Danny! Mommy and Daddy are gonna be mad!"

"Aww, Jazzy…" Danny pouted, his tiny fingers reaching into his pocket of his white jumpsuit. When Jazz realized what he was doing, it was too late.

"Hey, I said-"

"Jazzy honey?" The little boy said in a hopeful tone, holding out his favorite toy in one hand and flipping on the switch with the other.

♪ _Silent night, holy night _

_All is calm, all is bright-_

"Da-anny!" Jazz sighed exasperatedly as the soft melody radiated from the tiny box. "Turn it off!"

The younger toddler, however, was already occupied by something else, his blue eyes intently fixed at something behind his older sister.

"Danny! I'm talking to you!" The four-year-old irritably snapped, glaring at her brother. Again, no reply. She soon realized with a start that the black-haired toddler's gaze was directed at something behind her. "Jazzy, look. Behind you…"

The red-haired girl turned around, gasping as she did. The furthest wall was nursing an enormous hole coated with spooky electric circuits and buttons dimly gleaming in the dark. A flashing siren that the toddlers only saw on an ambulance lay on top of the metal entrance, emitting a foreboding crimson glow.

"This… is mommy and daddy's prwoject…" Jazz whispered to herself.

Without a word, Danny stood up, staring at the portal as if his gaze were permanently glued there. He abandoned the music box on the metal floor with a clank -which was a first, since he's never let it out of his grasp before except for baths- and plodded towards his parents' project, his blue eyes with no focus as if in a trance. _"…Wow…"_

"Danny, you shouldn't-" She warned, but her voice trailed off in hesitance.

Truth be told, Danny wasn't the only one curious of what this strange thing was about. Which was why Jazz gave no further protests even when she saw her little brother promptly hop into the dimly-lit machine.

She watched the darkness wash over his tiny form, his milky complexion and the white spandex reflecting blue-ish light as he tottered deeper into the inactivated device. He almost looked like a ghost himself then, his face deathly pale, and it made the little girl's stomach sink in a sense of dread looming over her.

"Hey, Jazzy! A gween button!" was the last thing the blue-eyed toddler uttered before a blinding flash broke loose along with a surge of concentrated ectoplasm charge. He shrieked at the top of his lungs with his eyes clenched shut as white jolts of pure spectral energy burst out and ravenously tore at his form.

Neither Danny nor Jazz -who screamed along with her brother- were aware for the fact that it was going to be the last moment the youngest Fenton would spend as an alive human.

Different shades of green swirls slowly materialized at the mouth of the man-made dimension hole, blocking the little toddler from view. The machine started creaking as pure ectoplasmic energy built up with tremendous pressure every second. It glowed brighter and brighter until the sheer force of spectral power became too much for the portal to endure.

Everything seemed to halt for a second as the power reached its highest point.

And all hell broke loose the next moment, the overloaded portal forcefully spitting out wild crackles of energy into the newly revealed dimension of the dead.

…Along with the two-year-old Fenton buried in them, who was ruthlessly hurled across the endless depth of green swirls.

Flames of spectral energy encompassing the young toddler clawed at his form in frenzy, desperate not to disintegrate into nothing. They attacked every corner of his being, seeping into the semi-conscious boy as the blinding glow enveloping his tiny frame gradually died away.

Only the boy revealed behind the lump of energy didn't look a thing like the blue-eyed toddler he used to be when he entered the portal a few moments ago. Anyone who'd seen him wouldn't doubt that he no longer was an alive being; his unnaturally white hair and eerie shade of brilliant green eyes practically screamed his new status as a spirit.

The very thing his parents hunted down for a living.

As if aware of the life he'd just lost, the toddler screeched for all he was worth as he was plunged deeper and deeper into the realm of the dead, rushing past numbers of floating islands and violet doors. His screams echoed loudly, grabbing attention of a few residents of the Ghost Zone, who merely shrugged and went back to their own business.

Back in the laboratory of Fenton Works, the blinding flash had died down quickly, leaving vivid green whirls to illuminate the spacious room. Contrary to the chaos that had just taken place there, it was now empty of any noise save for the choked sobs of a frightened young girl with her hands stretched out in a desperate attempt to reach out to her brother.

…And the tiny music box carelessly thrown on the metal floor, continuing its serene Christmas melody as if nothing had happened.

_Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth  
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth…_

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**A/N : Hello everyone! I'm now officially a new authress on FFN. With a soft spot for little kids. xD;; Thanks for reading, and I'll love you forever if you review. (I heart construction criticisms!)**

**:giggles: Next comes the part where lil' Danny crashes with his canon enemies... (coughEmberSkulkerKittycough)**


	2. Chapter 1: Crawling

**_A/N: _**Long story short, I haven't seen the kid who "inspired" this fic for a while. That equals lack of motivation. D: And unbeta-ed too, so behold my freakish grammar.

And if anyone's noticed, this story's going through some... name changes. Titles of chapters and the story itself and whatnot. Why? Because I'm such an undecisive person who can't make up her mind. But it really has to do with future chapters and whatnot. Don't mind the altered titles though, no content in the fic itself's changed.

**_Summary : _**

_Alternat Universe For centuries, ghosts have led fairly ordinary, even somewhat peaceful afterlives. Well, as ordinary it could get in the swirling depth of the Ghost Zone. No one would've guessed a young white-haired hybrid would change things so drastically… _

* * *

**_Terrene_**

.:Chapter 1:.

_Crawling_

* * *

_**The Box Ghost**: And beware! For I am merely one of your foes who reside in this realm! In fact, you might say we're a package deal! _

* * *

"Oh yeah? How'bout you then? You've got the nerve call yourself the greatest hunter of the Ghost Zone when you can't even find a damned _TV remote_!" 

"You speak like you're so much better yourself! Name one pathetic being in the human plane who still bothers to remember your name!"

"At least I'm not a two-inch ecto-glob wearing some uselessly fancy armor to attract other ghosts' attention!"

"_**THAT'S IT!**_ I'm outta here!"

"Glad to hear it!"

Infuriated, the undead rock star gave one last icy glare as her boyfriend stomped out and slammed her ghostly lair door shut. _What, _she fumed,_ was I thinking when I started going out with a thick-headed asshole like him?!_

KNOCK KNOCK!

"What do you want?!" She growled, flinging a metronome in response. It crashed into her door with a clamorous bang, its broken pieces flying around.

The purple door creaked open a little, revealing a green-haired girl who warily eyed the smashed chunks of the instrument beneath her feet. "Talk about friendly greeting," Kitty muttered dryly, "I was thinking of giving you some tips on dealing with dumb boyfriends, but now I'm having some second thoughts about it."

"Boyfriend?" Ember made a face for a moment before adopting an indifferent sneer in her unearthly glowing eyes. "What boyfriend?"

"You think, huh?" Kitty said, bemused, "you're giving up after one little spazz over a stupid guitar?"

"It was not a stupid guitar!" Ember rolled her eyes, "and I'm not about to waste any more of my time on insensitive tin-cans like him."

"Come on, a month of nothing but absolute hostility? That's a blazing Ding-Dong-Dang for lovey doey couples."

Ember, thoroughly annoyed that her friend wasn't taking her words seriously, mumbled complaints under her breath with a sour look and slouched on the navy couch sitting in the middle of her lair. Her narrowly slit eyes immediately shot wide open in surprise when a cacophonous noise reached her ears -the type of noise normally produced when someone accidentally sit on some mystical object innocently lying on a soft velvety couch. Like a few sheets of music paper, for instance.

"Wha-_damn_! It took me a whole month to write that stinkin' song!" She cursed, grabbing the paper and attempting to straighten it out with her hands.

Kitty raised an eyebrow. "A new song? _You_?"

"Hey, I resent that!" Ember scowled as her hands continued brushing over the sheets. "Just because my guitar decided to act wonky on me once, doesn't make me any less of a musician!"

"As far as my memory serves, that guitar of yours didn't have a choice in its performance. I'm sure it had something to do with you suddenly deciding it was a brilliant idea to use it on Youngblood to whack him in the-."

"Finish that sentence," the blue-haired ghost snapped her head upwards to glare at Kitty, "and I swear you're gonna regret ever getting into that motorcycle accident with that greasy boyfriend of yours!" Her eyes at the moment, however, managed to discover that her sheets were no longer in her grasp, but dangled in Kitty's fingers.

"Whoa!" The biker chick hastily ducked, holding the crumpled paper away from the temperamental ghost who made a giant lunge towards her precious music. "What's this? _Remember_? _It was, it was September. Wind blows, the dead leaves-_"

"An artist's work is very personal, thank you! And that one's not even done!" Ember snapped, fiercely snatching the paper away from Kitty's hands.

"Oh yeah. _Two weeks, you didn't call…_" Kitty snickered, only to yelp in surprise as a rather pissed-off Ember menacingly held out her fist. Kitty took a step back, a sheepish smile playing on her lips as she stammered an apology.

The catfight between the dead girls, however, was interrupted by a sudden high-pitched shriek that rattled the entire Ghost Zone.

Both ghosts froze, blinking in stupor.

"…What was _that_?" Ember said as she kicked her lair door open to scan the eerie depth of green swirls in search of anything out of ordinary. Kitty followed suit, curiosity radiating in her red eyes. Long sorrow wails of spirits mourning their lost lives were common in the Ghost Zone, but a panicked scream?

"I'm sure whoever didn't call you for two weeks wouldn't go for _that_ kind of call…" Kitty nonchalantly commented, poking her head about until her eyes caught a distant figure being chased by a much larger spook a few feet behind.

"Will you shut it already?!" The fiery-haired girl hissed in annoyance, turning around to shoot a dark look at the biker chick floating closely behind. "Speak a word of my song like that again, I won't have any second thoughts about shoving my music stand up your-!"

"Hey look, that's your boyfriend over there!" Kitty cut her moody friend off and pointed at the flaming dot she'd detected in a distance, "Y'know, Skulker? And that-" she then directed her finger at a smaller dot flying a few feet away "-looks like another poor fellow ghost being hunted down like an animal. Figures he's going at it again, huh?"

Ember, not bothering to spare a glance at the mechanic ghost, snorted in apathy, her scowl stubbornly deepening.

"Wait a minute! _That_," Kitty's eyes narrowed in indignation as the specters flew a bit closer to her view, "is a _**little kid**_ the maniac's chasing!" She fumed, urgently motioning to Ember as if expecting her to do something about it.

"So a stupid hunter ghost is chasing an equally stupid little kid ghost. How does that relate to my business?"

"Oh, c'mon!" Exasperated, Kitty shook her friend's shoulder, "It's our duty as reasonable females to keep unruly boyfriends in check so that they don't go around doing anything stupid! Like slaughtering an innocent little kid! You know all too well what Skulker'll do once he catches that poor little guy!" Kitty gestured towards the little ghost desperately trying to flee from his attacker who mercilessly fired glowing nets and laser guns with a predatory grin.

"Still none of my business."

"But-!" Kitty's eyes widened in alarm when she realized the young unfortunate prey of Skulker had abruptly changed his flight course; he was now headed straight towards-.

"Ember, LOOK OUT!" Kitty hastily shouted, frantically moving her arms about.

"I sincerely hope you don't think I'd actually fall for it, 'cause I'm not that-_**ACK!**_"

_Too late_. Kitty cringed as the small figure collided painfully into Ember's back, knocking out her balance as they ungracefully crashed into the purple door. Kitty, staring wide-eyed at the giant smoking hole in Ember's lair door, followed in hastily.

"Mommy! –sniff sniff- I want –cough- Mommy!" The unwelcome visitor wailed at the top of his lungs as he clung dear to the blue-haired ghost's back, refusing to let go, drowning shouts of obscenities from Ember who'd barely managed to get on her feet.

Kitty hastily discarded the useless crumbled door out of the way to help her friend, but the thought was instantly chucked out of her mind when her eyes landed on the ghostly toddler painfully sprawled across the floor on his back.

The tiny ghost stared up at Kitty, his thin silver mop of hair barely brushing over his wide green eyes brimmed with tear droplets. He thinned his lips in a sheer attempt to hold back his sobs as he rubbed his gloved hands over his tear-stricken eyes. The black material, which Kitty guessed was supposed to be a skin-tight jumpsuit, hung rather loosely over his tiny form along with white gloves and boots.

Or simply put, he was-

"-the cutest thing _ever_!" Instantly scooping the child up in her arms, Kitty burst out squealing in joy, accidentally knocking her friend over in the process. Ember protested loudly as she fell on her back again, but the red-eyed ghost paid no heed.

"Aren't you just precious? D'awwww!" Kitty gleefully wrapped her arms around the young spook and squeezed him into a suffocating hug. "Shh! It's alright! Don't cry!" The biker chick cooed, bringing her finger to wipe off his tears.

"Sheesh, Kitty," Ember irritably snapped as she shakily stood up from the wreck of her broken door, "some friend you are, fussing over a bratty kid rather than helping out your friend when she needs you!"

"But, but, Ember!" Kitty, holding out the white-haired little ghost to her irritated pal, stuttered in a defensive tone. "Don't you just want to hug him and love him forever and ever and ever?"

"Pass," the fiery-haired singer dryly said, "Little kids like him are nothing but an annoying nuisance who do nothing but chase you around with-!" She paused, her features hardening when her eyes found Skulker who'd finally caught up with his prey. He scowled right back upon seeing the blue-haired ghost, his jaws clenched tight in annoyance.

"Esmeralda," he growled coolly.

"Michael," Ember said in an equally unwelcoming tone.

"_**AHHH!**_ _Scary monkey!"_ The wide-eyed young specter shrieked, burying his face in Kitty's arms as if he'd seen something horrible that could incinerate his eyes. "It's the mean boogieman!"

"…!" Ember and Kitty burst out laughing at the nickname Skulker'd earned from the young boy. "A scary _monkey_?"

"I think I can totally see the resemblance…" Ember snickered, shooting the frightened toddler a "you get an extra cookie for this" look.

"Just hand over the brat," Skulker demanded, irritated by the fact that he had to face his soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend yet again, only to be humiliated in front of her by a mere toddler, "now. He is _my_ prey."

Kitty and Ember looked –in Ember's case, _glared_- back and forth between the sobbing little spook and the hunter for a moment before frowns of disapproval immediately crept their way to the girls' countenance. Kitty opened her mouth to counter as she defensively hid the little ghost behind her, but it was Ember who spoke up first.

"Now you're bullying a _little kid, _of all ghosts out there? This is low, even for a brute like you." Ember bristled with a pointed glare, snatching the toddler from Kitty and protectively pulling him in her arms, surprising both Kitty and Skulker. "Don't you have anything better to do for once?!"

Of course, the hot-tempered singer, as known perfectly clear to all her ghostly acquaintances, wasn't much of a baby-sitter material in spirit. She might've considered calendars decorated with illustrations of little children cute and desirable, but that was as far as her affection for young toddlers went.

_Photos of little kids, unlike pesky real-life babies, don't whine for hugs,_ Ember thought. It was Kitty's business to downright squeal upon at the sight of one, eager to put smiles and giggles on their young face.

Ember decided, however, that she was a hundred percent willing to make an exception for this white-haired one if he could provide an opportunity to snap at the self-proclaimed greatest hunter of the Ghost Zone. The fight she had with Skulker wasn't about to be forgotten quite easily, after all.

"I so don't have time for this," the hunter ghost gave a matching glare, muttering incomprehensible words under his breath as he started up his jets. As Ember's boyfriend, he was all too well aware of the reason for her sudden change of demeanors towards young children. Skulker, scarcely in a mood to argue with the rock star again that day, flew off to his own lair without a fight, convinced that the little brat wasn't worth its troubles.

"I mean, _seriously_. All he can do is chase after a defenseless little kid?" The blue-haired singer said as she looked daggers at the black spot that was the hunter ghost flying away. She stomped into her lair, the little spook gently cradled in her arms.

Amused, Kitty dryly muttered as she followed Ember. "Not your business, huh?"

_**.8.8.8.8.8.8.8.8.8.8.**_

"Get it? Next time you see that ugly monkey, you hold out your hand like this-" Ember stretched out her fist close up to her face "-and go WHAM! At his hideous face. And then after that, muster all your strength and kick his-!"

"Whoa, slow down there, Ember!" Kitty cut off her friend hastily, "I know your feelings towards Skulker aren't exactly warm and fuzzy, but coaching a little kid to kick your boyfriend's privates_ isn't_ the way!"

"It," Ember argued, "totally _is_ the way. It's not like I'm forcing the kid or anything. He hates that guy, too." She said, gesturing at the green-eyed toddler sitting on her couch, "You don't like that _scary monkey_, do you, kid?"

He let out a yawn and nodded wearily, bringing a violet cushion decorated with a turquoise flaming "e" in his clutch up to his nose. "Uh-huh. He's a big, big meanie."

"See?" Ember said, crossing her arms in triumph as Kitty rolled her eyes and slapped herself. Ember shrugged and instantly resumed to her lessons, lifting her foot up to demonstrate how to kick. "See this? The best spot is his knees or ankles, but remember, you can always go for his-"

"Hey there, little guy," Kitty interrupted as she gently patted the drowsy young boy's shoulder, settling on the couch next to him, "What's your name?" She nonchalantly ignored a low growl from Ember, who huffed in annoyance as she quickly caught on to Kitty's tactic to steer the boy's attention away from her lessons.

"I'm not wittle!" The newborn ghost puffed, crossing his arms, "I'm a big boy! I'm gonna get my own big boy bedwoom soon!"

"Okay then, big guy," Kitty tried again, "do you mind telling us your name?"

He seemed to consider his options for a moment, before nodding in satisfaction, "Danny," the white-haired ghost answered, "Danny Fen-" he stifled a yawn, mumbling in a less-than-coherent tone "-ton."

"…Danny _Phantom_?" Kitty repeated, an eyebrow raised. Eyes clouded in drowsiness, Danny nodded, leaning back on the comfortable couch as his brain slowly shut itself down to sleep. "What kind of last name is Phantom?"

Ember shrugged. "Who cares? Maybe he came up with it after he died."

"Right," Kitty snorted, "and every single toddler who doesn't know his months knows what 'phantom' means."

"Weell, Ms. I-Know-Everything-about-Little-Kids, he said his name is Phantom, and unless you can prove it otherwise, that's what we're gonna call him." Kitty shrugged back, turning her attention back to the half-asleep toddler.

"Hey, he's about to sleep! Don't-." Ember admonished a tad bit too late; Kitty had already shaken the kid awake, who agitatedly opened his glowing eyes back.

"So, Danny, do you know where your mommy is?" Kitty questioned, ignoring Ember who groaned something along the line of her liking little kids the best when they were asleep.

"M-Mommy?" The young ghost's half-lidded eyes instantly shot wide open in wet tears, his lips quivering upon hearing his trigger word. "Kitty?" Ember quipped uneasily, "You do realize you just asked the last question you'd wanna ask a toddler ghost who looks like he'd died not a week ago, right?" Covering her ears, Ember cringed as she prepared herself for the oncoming assault of her auditory senses.

"Three, two, one-."

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"What did I say about little kids being the most compliant when they're out cold?!" Ember growled at Kitty who flinched guiltily. "I'm sorry, okay? I totally forgot about that!" Kitty stuttered defensively as she hoisted up the wailing child in an attempt to sooth him.

"Sweetie, it's alright-"

"Jazzy was thewe, and, and, and, I did clickys and tehn-." His eyes watered as the painful memory came back, lashing at his vision. He shakily continued babbling, "and, and, dis big monkey came, and den he hit me, but mommy didn't came and- and-!" Breaking down, the little ghost cried with his teary eyes buried in his hands. He stood up suddenly and attached himself to Ember's legs, his sobs growing louder.

As for the blue-haired ghost, she didn't forget to let out an agitated growl at his actions.

"What the hell, Kitty?!" Annoyed, Ember snapped at her friend, "At least I didn't make him cry!"

"Keep it down, will you?! I'm not the one bent on some childish revenge on their boyfriend!" Kitty shot back, scowling, as she uneasily kneeled beside the white-haired tot. "There, there, sweetie… It's gonna be alri-"

"MOMMY!" He burst out even louder, sniffing and coughing, both Kitty and Ember wincing at the assault on their ears. "I want my mommy!"

"Nice, Kitty. _Real _nice." Ember added and slapped her forehead in exasperation, cringing slightly as the child tightened his grip on her legs, anxious for comfort. "I thought you were supposed to be good at this! Didn't you say you used to have a whiny sister? Y'know, until you ditched babysitting the kid to run away in the arms of your boyfriend?"

"Shut up, Ember," Kitty snapped, displeased by the sensitive subject, "now you're just being more of a baby that him!"

"Hey, I'm not the one who broke him down! How is this any of my fault?!" Ember retorted.

"I dunno, maybe leaving him to be killed by your IQ-deprived boyfriend?"

"Bullshit! I ended up saving his butt from the psycho! You didn't do anything!"

"We-ell then, if you saved him, he's your responsibility, not mine!" Kitty fiercely shot back, her arms crossed as anger boiled within her. "And watch your language!"

"You just said it –he's MY responsibility! I can swear as much as I feel like in front of him! In fact, I was doing a fine job of taking care of the brat until you thought it was a brilliant idea to ask a dead kid where his mom was!"

"Fine! Since I suck so much, I'll just leave you alone to babysit him by yourself!" Kitty stormed, angrily kicking the broken door aside as she strode her way out the entrance-

"May I ask what this whole racket is about, ladies?"

-only to come face-to-face with a white-clad warden ghost. He lit a cigar with ease, grabbing a notepad from his pocket. "Damaging a portion of a lair owned by other spectral entity, creating a disturbance, displaying violence-"

"And where the _hell_ did you come from?!" Kitty interrupted, her tone laced with façade bravado; no ghost so far had opposed the warden at work and turned out intact for decades. He wasn't just infamous for his unjust spontaneous rules –his unsympathetic nature was a must-know fact to survive in the Ghost Zone. Walker silently raised his eyebrow at the defiance from the girl, his frown darkening. Kitty flinched.

"-and exhibiting vulgar language at a _superior_." He ended with a smirk, jotting everything down on his paper as he calculated the heaviness of the red-eyed apparition's crimes.

Both Ember and Kitty tensed up.

"Hold on a sec, Walker!" Ember hastily spoke up to save her friend, "what about him? He caused this entire mess!" She motioned at her legs where the green-eyed spook clung to, paying no attention to the vicious look Kitty shot her.

"_Him_?" Walker questioned skeptically, "I'm disappointed, Ember. I am aware of your dislike towards adults, but you should have passed the age of imaginary friends years ago."

"_Imaginary friends_?" The blue-haired artist stared at the warden in perplexity until it hit her moments later; it was quiet. _Too_ quiet. No more obnoxious whining of a certain white-haired toddler.

"Walker?" Ember said, "do you, by any chance, see a bratty kid clinging at my knees?"

"No."

"Well then," the fiery-haired specter swore, "…_fudge_."

* * *

**A/N: ...Am I the only one who thinks the entire Ghost Zone is totally like a giant dyfunctional family? xDDD; Vlad can be the disobey-me-and-die Dad, Skulker and Technus can be the insane uncles, Walker can be the...evil babysitter! (shot'd) Oh, and Desiree's the unpredictable auntie, Spectra's the mean sister, Kitty, Ember, Youngblood, Johnny, Danny can be the out-of-control "kids!" See? Perfect! (cricket chirp) C'mon, it's all based on their ghost age -i.e. how long it's been since they turned into a ghost! ...Except for Vlad... Y'know what? I'll just stop talking.**

**And as always, reviews are very much appreciated! The reviewers get sneak-peaks from the next chapter which involves a ghostly prison and the reveal of Danny's hybrid state. **


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